Maps
by koalakoala
Summary: One-hundred and fifty missing moments; drabbles. All pairings. 85: Mark of Athena spoilers. Percy/Annabeth.
1. just in case

**1. just in case.**

"Why don't we get those?" Annabeth asks innocently, pointing to the display on the counter.

Percy squints at a box, and then jerks away suddenly, cheeks flushed a bright scarlet. He chokes out something unintelligible.

She rolls her eyes and tosses one into the shopping cart.

The box of condoms looks at him teasingly from the bottom of their cart. He glares at it. The old lady who rings them up winks cheerily as she hands them the bag. "Enjoy yourselves, darlings."

Annabeth thinks that maybe the color of Percy's face will be permanently red after this.

She grins, amused.


	2. sweet dreams

**2. sweet dreams.**

"Luke?" Seven-year-old Annabeth admires a shiny bronze knife, curled up in his sleeping bag.

He turns to face her. "Yeah?"

"Aren't you cold?"

Luke shifts, pulling his jacket closer around himself. He's freezing. "Kind-of," he finally answers. Annabeth sits up, casting a glance at Thalia's sleeping figure, one hand clenched around her spear.

"You can share my sleeping bag," she offers easily, "I mean, yours. Body heat is really important in cold temperatures."

He laughs. "That's okay, kiddo. I'll switch guard duty with Thalia in a while."

She scoots closer to him anyway, and Luke ruffles her curls.

"Sweet dreams."


	3. hunter

**A/N:** AU ending of _The Titan's Curse_.

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**3.** **hunter.**

"Annabeth Chase, will you join the Hunt?"

Percy reaches forward, as if to pull her back. But she steps forward before he has a chance. "Annabeth..." he begins slowly.

Her voice carries boldly over his. "I will."

Thalia's fingers close around his wrist. Too tightly. He can feel electricity buzzing on her skin.

"I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men..."

After, Thalia punches him lightly in the shoulder and tries to smile. "I guess we're in this together now, Seaweed Brain."

It doesn't sound as insulting as it used to, now.


	4. messages

**A/N:** For **AnnabethChaseRox13**, even though I'm trying to focus more on lesser pairings in this story. (Chris/Clarisse coming up in a couple of chapters...)

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4. messages.**

"_Percy, I want to talk. Call me when you get this. I'm sorry I didn't…Never mind."_

"_Didn't you get my message, Seaweed Brain? Call me back, please."_

"_So you're probably ignoring me. I'm sorry. Really. Can you just call me if you get this?"_

The phone rings for half a second before Annabeth grabs it. "Hello?" she asks hopefully.

"Hello, ma'am, are you interested in buying our revolutionary n—" She presses END before she can yell at the man that she was most definitely _not_ interested in whatever he was selling.

The doorbell rings. And it's _him_, standing there with an (adorably) apologetic look and a bouquet of flowers. _Flowers._

"Didn't you get my messages?" she demands without a hello.

Percy looks sheepish. "Sorry, Wise Girl. My phone was dead, _honestly_."

Annabeth wants to punch him within a _centimeter_ of his sorry life...but she'll settle for a kiss.


	5. darkness

**5. darkness.**

"I'm afraid of the dark." Her whisper is silent. Almost.

Nico rolls his eyes. "There's nothing to be afraid of. It's just shadows." But he offers his hand.

She takes it gratefully, but closes her eyes.

"Hold on tight..." His voice is mockingly concerned.

She can feel it as they sink into the shadows, and she grips his freezing hand tighter.

Her eyes open slowly as the sensation fades. He's rolling his eyes at her again, but there's a grin threatening at the corner of his lips. His irises are a deep black, almost scary-looking.

But it's the only darkness that she isn't afraid of.


	6. seven years

**6.** **seven years**

When she was born, he was seven years old. When she was seven, he was fourteen. When she'd start high school, he'd already be in college.

He watches her grow up. Seven to eight to nine, ten, twelve. She suddenly blushes whenever he's in the room.

_It's not the same._

He desperately wishes Thalia were here to distract him. (Maybe if she were, he wouldn't love the girl that's here instead.)

So when he's twenty-three and she's sixteen, he asks her a stupidly impossible question to which he already knows the answer.

"Did you...love me?" She looks at _him_.

_...No._


	7. sing along

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews. If you're looking for more of this rare pairing, check out _Calamity Clarisse_ by Clichesbullet.

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**7. sing-along.**

The remains of the sing-along fire glow faintly. "Clarisse..." Chris begins, grinning mischievously. She glares, first at the flames, then at him.

"Don't you _dare_—"

"There was a Titan who had a centaur, and Chiron was his name-o..."

"Shut the hell up, Chris," she groans.

"C-H-I-R-O-N," he continues cheerfully, completely out of tune. Clarisse still glares at the rekindled flames. Chris's hand somehow slips into hers, and she sighs. Only for him.

"And Chiron was his name-o." She fake scowls as she says the words with as little enthusiasm as she can.

But the flames grow higher than ever.


	8. café

**8. ****café.**

Rachel exits the taxi to find the café where they were supposed to be meeting at in ruins. A boy stands casually in front, tossing a bronze sword (that no one else seems to notice) from hand to hand, a faint grin visible.

"What did you do this time, Percy?" she asks, exasperated.

He runs a hand through his already messy black hair. "It wasn't _my_ fault. I got us a table, but the waitress—"

Rachel raises her eyebrows. "A monster just _happened_ to be at this café?"

"Well, yeah." He shrugs unconcernedly.

"Let's see if the Starbucks on the next street will manage to stay monster-free, okay?" she suggests, linking an arm through his.

Fifteen minutes later, Rachel tries to not taste the definite hint of monster dust in her cappuccino. Percy grins at her apologetically.

She shakes her head, but she can't stop herself from smiling back.


	9. goodbye

**9. goodbye.**

She's almost crying, and he's exasperated, shiny bronze armor and that wide smile she loves.

"Come on, Silena. I'll be fine. Don't worry, okay?"

"I'm not worried," she lies, clutching his hand tighter and feeling the scythe charm, so cold against her wrist.

He just laughs and kisses her.

"See you soon, okay?" he whispers, after, forehead to hers. Her fingers lock around the charm, imprinting it into her palm, and she pulls herself away.

"Okay, Charlie."

And then he's gone, and she's left with nothing but memories of warm summer nights and the silver scythe heavy in her fingers.


	10. moonlace

**10. moonlace.**

"Where'd you get these?" Rachel stands on the balcony and gently touches the pale petals growing in the flowerbox.

Percy looks vaguely uncomfortable.

He tries not to think about _her_, but he just can't help it. He wonders what would he be doing with her, at this very moment, if he had said yes. But, of course, he couldn't have said that. Tyson and Grover and Annab—no, not her—were counting on him. They still are.

And he still wonders, sometimes.

Rachel waits, face tilted up towards the scoop of vanilla ice-cream moon.

"Just a friend," he answers wistfully.


	11. portrait

**11.** **portrait.**

"How's it going, darling?" Apollo says, smiling brighter than she'd ever thought were possible.

"Will you stop calling me that?" Rachel Elizabeth Dare pushes a few strands of red hair out of her eyes, regarding the god in front of her critically.

"Sweetheart?"

Rachel's fingers tighten on the paintbrush. "Be careful, _Lord Apollo_, or you may end up horribly disfigured."

Apollo glances neutrally at the back of the canvas. "Don't worry, Rachel. Even you could never mar _my_ natural beauty."

She smiles devilishly, adding a sudden—and horribly ominous—squirt of black paint to her palette.

"We'll see about that."


	12. rendezvous

**A/N: **for **Persephone's flower**, hope you enjoy it. Post-TTC, but pre-BOTL.

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**12. rendezvous.**

It's well past midnight when he finally sneaks into the dark silver tent that belongs to Artemis' lieutenant.

She sighs in her sleep as he slides into her blessedly warm sleeping bag.

He whispers her name softly, but she's obviously exhausted and won't wake. But his arm wraps around her waist and he buries his face into her dark hair.

"Luke," she murmurs, half stirring from sleep, half still dreaming. He presses his lips to the curve of her neck, and she sleepily rolls over to pull him closer.

He has damned her, but this certainly feels like the opposite.


	13. sexist

**A/N:** A half-drabble this time, so fifty words total. If FF's word count wasn't all screwed up.

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**13.** **sexist.**

It was the first time he'd ever seen her in anything remotely fancy. He'd told her she should wear skirts more often, but she had rolled her eyes and told him he was sexist.

Maybe he was, but the fact remained that she _did_ look awfully pretty in a dress.


	14. wish

**14. wish.**

"Are you _sure_ your eyes are closed?"

"Yes, I'm sure," he groans, "Can you just get on with it?"

"Okay, you can open them now." A cake sits upon the table, the surface covered in dozens of rainbow-colored candles. _Of course._

Nico raises an eyebrow. "Did you really make this yourself?"

"Well, my baking skills are nonexistent, so Apollo helped. And my singing skills are nonexistent too, so don't expect me to sing to you," she adds. "Make a wish, birthday boy."

He wishes - sincerely - that Apollo hadn't poisoned the cake, and blows out all the ugly candles.


	15. hug

**15. hug.**

Three years after the war, they return to camp. It seems short in her eyes, but everyone else looks way older. She's still fifteen and three-hundred-sixty-four days.

Nico—now around her same age—is staring at her. She's never really known him. Or cared to.

"Need something, kid?"

He's obviously irritated by the name, but says, "I was just thinking. About Bianca, you know. She'd...still be twelve."

She still doesn't really know him, but she wraps an arm around his shoulders and squeezes.

"I thought hunters weren't supposed to hug guys," he mutters, cheeks tinged with pink.

She winks.


	16. idiot

**A/N: **for **Amanda Eros** and **Daughter of Poseidon**.

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**16. idiot.**

"Katie? Connor, uh, likes you. I thought you should know. So…do you like him back?"

"Who wouldn't? …Travis, you look like you're going to puke. Stay away from my rosebushes, okay?"

"I'm not. Going to puke, I mean."

"Then?"

"…Connor never actually liked you. It was…well, it was me."

She rolls her eyes. "You're an idiot, Travis Stoll."

"So you like Connor, huh?"

"Sure. He's great."

"Are you mocking me?"

"But luckily for you," she continues, ignoring him, "I…well, I might happen to _like_ idiots. Or…maybe just a certain one."

"I'm offended." But his cheerful smile begs to differ.


	17. morning

**17. morning.**

The sun sneaks its way through the cracks in the blinds. Rachel yawns. "Rise and shine!" remarks a cheerful voice.

She rubs her eyes. "Apollo?"

"I sincerely hope you're not used to having someone _else_ here when you wake up."

"Oh, shut up."

He pretends to frown at her. "No 'good morning'? No 'it's so nice to see you, Lord Apollo'?"

"Well, if you're here…I wouldn't consider it a good morning," she laughs, not quite meaning it.

Apollo does manage a genuine frown this time. "No one's _ever_ said that to me before."

Rachel hides her smile behind her fingers.


	18. iris

**18. iris.**

__

Please deposit one more drachma for another five minutes.

Percy groans loudly, searching his pockets for spare change. Finding a single coin at the bottom of his suitcase, he clumsily tosses it into the rainbow.

"Annabeth," he complains, once her face reappears, "You're bankrupting me."

"You were the one who decided to go on vacation halfway across the country, Seaweed Brain."

"So now it's my fault?"

"Well, I did remind you to bring your phone, but you just happened to forget it..."

He scowls. "Fine, it is my fault. Get it over with, would you?"

She smirks. "Told you so."


	19. siren

**A/N: **Happy Halloween, guys. This is for **bookluva98**. I strongly suggest reading nikkiRA's _Bumps_ or _Superman_, which really do this pairing justice. I might expand this later and make it a separate one-shot. Maybe.

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**19. siren.**

She never used to hear the sirens. But now she listens to them wailing, imagines red-and-blue lights, and brings her knees to her chest, spine curled over like a fetus.

"Annabeth."

"Annabeth, you can't do this." Cold hands touch her hair, her back.

"I'll soundproof the walls, okay?" he says pleadingly. "I'll build you a freaking castle with soundproof walls."

She looks at him, black hair, matching eyes. (Sometimes she wishes they were green, sometimes she doesn't.) She doesn't want a castle, but he's offering. "No skeletons," she says. He half-smiles, remembering camps and cabins and Percy.

"Sure, no skeletons."


	20. fireworks

**A/N: **All of these will most likely disregard any events in _The Lost Hero_, by the way, unless otherwise noted.

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**20. fireworks.**

She looks up at the sky, the bright fireworks reflecting off her eyes. You swallow, lying back on the red-checked picnic blanket spread out on the beach.

"Hey, Annabeth?" You ask casually, nerves coiling in your stomach like snakes.

"Hmm?"

"I, um..."—_kind of like/want/love/need you. _You chicken out, of course. "...forgot."

She looks at you skeptically, propping her face up with an elbow. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that, Seaweed Brain?"

You don't answer, pretending you can't hear her over the deafening sound of fireworks, spelling out the names of now-dead heroes.

Maybe next time.


	21. misnomer

**21. misnomer.**

It's almost pitch-dark as the fire and singing finally die down, yawns and tired murmurs taking over. "Hey," she whispers to the shadowed figure of a boy a few benches over from her.

"Uh…yeah?"

"I was…kind of thinking about, you know, the end of summer fireworks?"

"Mmhmm?" She can imagine him rolling his eyes, but ignores this.

"Well, maybe you wanted to, um, come with me?" Her heart pounds, anticipating Travis' reply. With hopefully something involving a _yes_.

"Katie?" he answers, like he's trying not to laugh.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry, but…I'm Connor."

She's so glad that the darkness hides her blush.


	22. desire

**22. desire.**

_She's waiting in a room with a pretty chandelier. Tall heels, her hair pulled back into something elaborate, makeup heavy on her face.__A black-haired, blue-eyed man walks toward her—but suddenly he has blond hair, and she's overwhelmingly relieved._

_She stands on her tiptoes; he leans down and—_

—she wakes up with a start, wide blue eyes, burning cheeks, fingers clenched. Luke groans sleepily.

"You okay, Thalia?"

"Yeah. Just a bad dream."

"About?"

"Nothing important," she mutters, flushing.

Her cheeks are still on fire when she finally falls asleep, to more dreams/nightmares of the boy lying next to her.


	23. thank you

**A/N: **Due to recent confusion, I'll be putting a summary of the chapter that I usually put in the whole story's summary at the beginning of each chapter too. Along with the pairing(s), if any.

Summary: Because when your crush—who happened to betray you—asks you to run away with him, you'd say yes. Post-TTC, pre-BOTL. Luke/Annabeth.

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**23. thank you.**

This time, she doesn't leave a goodbye note. He's having a hard time erasing the disbelieving expression from his face. "You're…you're really coming with me?"

"Obviously," Annabeth laughs.

Hours later, they're curled up in an ugly motel watching late-night shows on the fuzzy TV. "It's not too late to go back," he says suddenly.

She rolls her eyes. "Weren't you the one who _wanted_ me to come with you?"

"I guess I'm just trying to say, you know…"

"Thank you?" she suggests.

She kisses his cheek and tries not to think about the other _him, _blackhairgreeneyeswidesmile. "Anytime, you know that."


	24. angels

_Summary:_ Sometimes, rarely, he finds angels. He doesn't see why she's making ones out of snow when she's pretty close. [Rachel/Apollo.]

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**24. angels.**

"Please?" she begs, eyes wide.

"Fine," he finally allows, letting her drag him into the swirling snow.

She laughs as she falls backwards, cheeks pink with cold. Her arms and legs cut easily into the blankness. He helps her up, after, bleaching the snow.

"Don't you want to make one?"

"Gods don't make snow angels."

"Pretend you're not a god, then," Rachel answers, as if this were obvious.

He does, even if there are a dozen (prettier) mortal girls waiting for him after her, because with her fiery curls and bright red boots and white angels, he wishes he wasn't.


	25. festive

**A/N:** for _TheGrayEyedWiseOne_.

_Summary:_ Nico's never hung Christmas lights before in his life, but Thalia's there to fix that. Unfortunately. Thalia/Nico. Obviously post-series and AU.

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**25. festive.**

"Colored or white?" Thalia asks brightly.

He groans. "How about none?"

"It's a serious question, Nico," she says. He ignores her. And that's how Nico di Angelo's house came to be adorned in blinking rainbow Christmas lights.

"They hurt my eyes," he complains.

"Oh, shut up," she says. "They look nice, and you know it." He makes a noncommittal noise, folding his arms across his chest.

"You know what," she begins, with a devilish grin, "I think I just won't hang up any mistletoe this year…"

He coughs loudly. "Actually, Thalia…"

"Yeah?"

"They, er, look nice. Very, you know, festive."


	26. bittersweet

_Summary:_ Because no matter how much time has passed, they can't just forget her. [Percy/Thalia.] AU from TTC, but set several years later.

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**26. bittersweet.**

They argue too often. Witticisms and curses and insults fly like knives, sharp and seemingly deadly.

But then she always storms away, furious to the point of speechlessness. And he follows her out. A tentative touch. Her shoulder, wrist, the inside of her elbow. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," she always answers.

He holds her. And even though they're completely wrong for each other, he always kisses her forehead or her cheek (never her lips, then) and she shocks him. _Usually_lightly.

"Just like old times," he'll say.

"Not quite, Percy."

_Annabeth,_ their minds whisper. She smiles so wide it hurts.


	27. burned

_Summary:_ Survivor's guilt is always worse when it's your brother who's dead. [Katie/Pollux.]

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**27. burned.**

He's never seen his father look so serious, and it irritates him. He's never cared, so why pretend now?

Slowly, he lowers the torch to the grape-embroidered shroud. He has an insane urge to put out the flames and scream that this is a stupid tradition.

Scarlet fire. He's standing so close it feels like he's burning, too.

The sweet scent of grapes drifts upward. Katie laces her fingers through his and squeezes.

He feels awful, because for a moment he's maybealittle happy. But Castor's being burned to ashes, so how can he feel something good when everything else isn't?


	28. misgivings

**28. misgivings.**

On the other end of the phone line, Annabeth sighs with over-exaggerated heaviness, he thinks. "You're going to be late, aren't you?"

"Gods, I'm sorry."

"Mmhmm."

"I really am, okay?"

"And it's what, the sixth time this month?"

He winces. "I've already told you, my boss said—"

"I heard you the first time, Percy."

"Obviously not."

"Look, I'll see you later. Okay?"

"Fine."

"Fine." She clears her throat.

A long, awkward pause ensues, in which he debates hanging up without a goodbye. "Love you," he eventually decides.

She hesitates for just as long, and it hurts. "Love you too."


	29. maybe

Percy/Zoe, requested from _achunaruto_ and _Maiden-of-the-midnight-moon_.

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**29. maybe.**

_You are not Hercules._

Maybe it was her crown. Shiny silver against her dark hair, though now her whole self is silvery too. But she was proud enough without it.

Maybe it was her name. Zoë. He has no idea why it's spelled like that, but it looks more interesting anyway.

Maybe it was because he can now say he's tried to kiss a ghost.

Maybe it was just _her_. That's what he tells himself as he finds himself sneaking down to hell in the ungodly hours of the morning to meet with a girl who can never love him.


	30. chasing

**30. chasing.**

He's panting, sides cramped and forehead dripping with sweat.

The tree nymph giggles, brown hair flying as she runs, tinged with green like she's been swimming in a chlorinated pool. Except she hasn't. She's faster than him, though trees shouldn't even be able to run at all. He still chases her.

He won't give up...at least, not yet.

And then she sinks right into the patch of juniper near Zeus' Fist, and a laugh emanates from the vines. "What's your name, satyr?"

"Grover Underwood," he gasps, breathing hard.

"Well, I'm Juniper, obviously," she giggles. "Awfully persistent, aren't you?"


	31. three words

A slight reference to _The Lost Hero_. Pairing suggested by AnnabethChaseRox13.

_Summary:_ She was Aphrodite's daughter, so why was it so hard for her to say those three words? [Silena/Beckendorf.]

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**31. three words.**

"Are you kidding?" She rolled her eyes, bluer than ever when ringed perfectly in black. "I'd never break someone's heart for some silly ritual."

She might've loved Luke, but then he betrayed them, which was only hot when you're on the traitor's side. (Incidentally, she was.) Then Charlie was complicated because she actually loved him and couldn't tell him.

Sometimes she hated her mother as much as she hated the word _spy_.

Later, they're in a crazy paradise better known as Elysium. "I loved you," she says, so easily she should've told him sooner.

"I knew you did," Charlie says.


	32. caught

_Summary:_ So he stayed the night in Rachel's apartment. No big deal, unless he happened to be caught in the act. [Rachel/Nico.] Prompt suggested by Daughter Of Poseidon. (Thanks!)

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**32. caught.**

He answers the door without thinking, and while Percy's eyes are wide, mouth gaping comically, Annabeth frowns and doesn't try to hide her obvious disapproval. "What are you doing here, Nico?"

His face burns.

A yawning Rachel pours them too-sweet coffee and they all try to ignore the complete and utter awkwardness. Annabeth all but drags Rachel away.

Which leaves Percy and Nico alone in the kitchen. "What were you thinking?" Percy demands.

"Well, maybe I wasn't," Nico says, looking defiantly pleased about it.

"Apollo will kill you. Slowly."

"Uh, could you buy me some sunscreen?"

Percy rolls his eyes.


	33. sunburn

Sequel to the last chapter. Goes along with Daughter of Poseidon's prompt of "embarrassed."

_Summary:_ In which Apollo delivers his revenge as only the Greek god of the sun can. [Rachel/Nico.]

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**33. sunburn.**

"Oh my gods."

"Shut up," Nico says. Rachel lets out snicker.

"Shut the hell up," he snaps again.

"Are you okay?" she asks, stifling another giggle. He starts to scowl but winces and stops. His entire face is shiny red, some of it already starting to peel away.

"I thought you bought sunscreen," she says.

"I used the whole freaking bottle," he groans. The color in his face turns brighter, almost matching her hair, and he covers his face with his fingers.

She can't help but laugh lightly and pull them away. "You know, Nico, you're cute when you're embarrassed."


	34. nostalgia

_Summary:_ He's seventeen, she's eleven, he hasn't gone with her to Thalia's tree in forever, and she wishes she was the reason why. [One-sided Annabeth/Luke, Luke/Silena & Thuke.]

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34. nostalgia.

"I heard you and Silena are going to the Fourth of July fireworks," she says, sitting on the steps of the Hermes cabin and attempting to sound indifferently curious.

"Don't spend too much time talking to those daughters of Aphrodite, Annabeth."

"Hypocrite," she laughs, "And I wasn't! Beckendorf was depressed, and it was all he ever talked about in—"

"Can we not talk about this?"

She's startled. And then, quieter, "Do you ever think about Thalia anymore?"

"Of course I—of course I don't. She's dead, okay?" The intense look on his face kind of scares her.

"Okay, Luke."


	35. french fry

I've been in a pre-series mood lately.

_Summary:_ Because when you're fourteen and twelve and seven and on the run from monsters, you actually like McDonald's. A lot. Pre-series. [No pairings.]

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**35. french fry.**

They all stare at the single french fry at the bottom of the carton. (Stained with grease, but they don't care.) "I'm the youngest," reminds Annabeth, trying her best to look angelic.

"I'm the oldest," Luke counters, grinning. "_And_ I bought the whole lunch, so it's obviously mine."

"Like that cost you a lot."

He starts to reply. "I—"

"Want it?" Thalia interrupts, opening her mouth to reveal a half chewed french fry. Annabeth wrinkles her nose, while Luke rolls his eyes at her.

"Well, I didn't really want it anyway," he lies.

"Me, either," Annabeth says at once.

She laughs. Victory tastes like salty potatoes.


	36. bouquet

You can pretend it's Percabeth's wedding, if that floats your boat. Pairing's for MissingMommy.

_Summary:_ Of course, the wedding bouquet falls right into her eternally-pure fingers. [One-sided Rachel/Apollo.]

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**36. bouquet.**

She's forced to stand with the other giggling, cheerful bridesmaids, when she's anything but happy. The bride throws her bouquet. It sails—right into her unwilling hands.

So she pretends to blush and laugh, avoiding questions about her special someone, because there isn't _anyone_.

Apollo offers his hand and a smile so bright she knows it's fake. "Care to dance, sweetheart?"

She takes it and inwardly she's wishing he would hold hers tighter. And she hates that he _knows_ it.

"I was so stupid," she whispers, as his arms slide gently around her waist.

The Fates must really hate her.


	37. regresar

The title's Spanish for "to return home." Pairing is for a variety of people, but I owed you them anyway.

_Summary:_ A quest + a golden mango + a homecoming = a kiss from the girl you pretend to not like but really do. [Travis/Katie.] Pre-series.

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**37. regresar.**

He staggers into camp with a sloppy bandage around his head and a cheerfully arrogant grin. Connor is right behind, golden mango clutched triumphantly in his fingers.

"Travis! Travis, you're back!"

"Obviously, Katie," he says. "Successful as usual, eh?"

She stands on her tiptoes and kisses his cheek. "I'm, uh, really glad you're okay."

He blushes, and Connor rolls his eyes and shoves him forward, then calls back, "He's secretly glad you kissed him, Katie!"

_"How did you know that?"_ she hears Travis say.

_"Twin telepathy, duh."_

_"What? We're not even twins!"_

Katie bites her lip to keep from smiling.


	38. yellow

Sort-of sequel to chapter uno. Pairing for Zelda12343.

_Summary:_ In which we find Percy has apparently put those condoms to a good use. Percabeth.

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**38. yellow.**

When he blearily opens his eyes, all he can see is the color yellow. The sun on her bare skin, her hair bright. White sheets turned faintly golden in the sunshine.

She stirs, her back cracking. "Oh, _gods_. What time is it?"

He grins. "Almost ten."

She groans and yawns. "I've got to go…"

But he loops an arm around her sun-warmed waist and pulls her closer against him. She sighs and sits up, pulling the sheets with her, and a affectionate smile plays around her lips.

"Percy?"

"Wise Girl?" he asks, endearingly lazily.

"You still drool when you sleep."


	39. nightmare

For Dontforget2RememberMe, prompt by TheIceCubeCancer.

_Summary:_ Dreams and nightmares are two entirely different things, to her. [Thalia/Nico.]

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**39. nightmare.**

She screams herself awake and he's there, awkwardly stroking her back as they're tangled in warm sheets. Thalia shrugs off his hand.

"Why do you like me?" he asks abruptly. "I'm not Luke."

"I know that," she says.

He sighs. "You were dreaming about him."

She doesn't ask how he knows that. "So?"

"I'm just waiting for the day you ask me to summon him."

"It was a _nightmare_, Nico. Want to guess who would have been in my dream?" She ruffles his hair and smirks.

He would've replied, but she kisses him and words were never his strong suit, anyway.


	40. believe me

I'm experimenting with dialogue styles a bit here, hopefully it's not confusing. Pairing for bookluva98.

_Summary:_ She gets her first grey hairs when she's thirteen. She'd dye the rest grey if she thought it could save him. [Luke/Annabeth.] Post-TTC, when Luke comes to get Annabeth to run away with him.

* * *

**40. believe me.**

He reaches out and touches her one grey-streaked curl in the midst of all the yellow. She sighs.

—Please, he says again. She looks away.

—I want to believe you.

—Why can't you?

—You know perfectly well why. She knocks his hand away and her eyes flit briefly to the long, messily-written letter on her desk.

—Percy? he says, too calmly. Not a question.

—I held up the sky for you, Luke.

—I'm sorry.

—I wouldn't do it again, she says. He hugs her hard, not answering, but her arms link around him and the action speaks for itself.

—Liar.


	41. stars

Pairing and prompt courtesy of TheIceCubeCancer.

_Summary:_ He knows she's in love with a dead man, and he loves her anyway. Annabeth/Nico.

* * *

**41. stars.**

"What are we doing?" Annabeth says.

Stars are strewn like hundreds of diamonds across a solid black ceiling. He doesn't have an answer. He breathes in the smell of her hair and she sighs.

"Nico…"

"I love you," he says, with a kind of naïveté. There's only half of her left to be in love with, but he still is. She never says the words back. But her fingers trace his jaw and bring his lips back to hers, and that's as good of an answer as he'll ever get.

The stars laugh, but they've all but covered their ears.


	42. proposal

Pairing is for a lot of lovely people. I don't think a summary is necessary, title says it all.

* * *

**42. proposal.**

The _will you marry me? _has already been said, and his knee is starting to seriously hurt.

"Percy…" He's vaguely sure she's supposed to squeal and say _yesyesyesofcourse_; (granted, Annabeth isn't a squealing kind of girl.) "We're eighteen," she says. "I love you, you know that, but I _can't_. Not yet, okay?"

The velvet box closes with a loud snap. He straightens up and tries to hide his disappointment.

But almost two years later, she says _of course I'll marry you_, and he thinks it was all utterly worth it, even though he'd have liked to hear her squeal.


	43. silver & gold

God, this is _so_ late. I kind of really forgot, and then I just couldn't get inspired. Pairing for TwinkleLights123. Next up is Tratie, which I promise will be out sooner than this one was.

Summary: She's surrendering a silver jacket because she thinks he might be gold. Thalia/Apollo. Post-TLO.

* * *

**43. silver & gold.**

Sometimes she loses track of time when she's with him. He has to be the one to pull away and say, "You have to go."

She'll groan and ask, "Why?" But she already knows the answer. She puts on her crown last. She feels like a liar, because the silver is pure and she isn't.

But she sneaks back into the Hunters' camp and says "Good morning, my lady," without flinching and her brain is screaming _you don't deserve to be here_ and her heart says _too bad_, because even though the sun burns her eyes she can't look away.


	44. pillow

_Summary:_ They both might have found the most perfect sleeping arrangements as possible on this quest, which…aren't at all perfect. Travis/Katie. Post-TLO.

* * *

**44. pillow.**

He drags his eyelids open to find himself surrounded by sleeping passengers, the sun not-quite-rising, and his neck stiff from resting his head against a certain someone.

"Thank the gods," Katie says. "I thought you'd never stop snoring."

Travis is not a morning person and he grumbles, "I'm not awake enough to be witty."

"Well, keep an eye out, okay?" she adds, lips quirking.

She must have been really tired, he thinks idly, because she falls asleep fast. And as a weight lands gently onto his right shoulder, he grins and presses his lips to the top of her head.


	45. retrospect

_Summary:_ She thinks she could possibly forgive him for everything. But not today. Thalia/Luke. AU, if Luke had survived at the end of TLO.

* * *

**45. retrospect.**

"Did you join the Hunters because of me?"

"Not everything I do is about you, Luke," she says jadedly.

"I wasn't talking about everything," he says. She thinks she should probably stop him from kissing her, but she doesn't. For a moment they're fourteen and twelve, and they still taste like monster dust.

She pulls away first, which gives her a sense of power. "Maybe I joined the Hunters because of you. I'm not leaving them because of you."

He laughs bitterly, because he expected that. "There's always rebirth," he says. "In fifty years, maybe you will."

She half-smiles. "Maybe."


	46. claimed

Luke/Silena...No one requested them, but I felt like trying. Pre-series.

* * *

**46. claimed.**

"I _hate_ waiting," she sighs to him.

"So whose daughter do you think you are?" he asks.

She brightens considerably and stops french-braiding her hair. "Aphrodite!" It's vain to say so, but isn't that one of the reasons why it could be true?

Luke grins. "Hey, tomorrow I'll take you to see the pegasi. Aphrodite's kids are usually good with them, maybe she'll claim you."

She says _thank you_ and he says _no problem_ and a day later, the moment a symbol of doves shines over her head and he smiles, pleased, is the moment she thinks she's in love.


	47. spontaneity

For Penny.

_Summary:_ Because he doesn't just write awful haikus. Unrequited Rachel/Apollo.

* * *

**47. spontaneity.**

"This is actually good," Rachel says, sounding slightly incredulous. He can't help but mention, _well, I _am_ the god of poetry_, even though he's rather surprised at himself for spontaneously writing this in the half-hour it took for her to add barely-noticeable finishing touches to her self-portrait.

A sonnet. Shakespearean. Three quatrains plus one closing couplet, in perfect iambic pentameter.

There's a smear of milk-white paint on her cheek that you think should be on her portrait. To add realism. "So who's the mystery girl? Anyone I know?"

She can see everything but this.

He says, "You don't know her."


	48. introspect

Pairing for In the Closet FanFic Reader. My first Heroes of Olympus drabble. Early, because I'll be on vacation for the next two weeks. I'll try to find the time to update, but I can't guarantee anything.

_Summary:_ She's talking to him and he can't bother to be disappointed by the fact that she's still untouchable as ever. Leo/Thalia.

* * *

**48. introspect.**

"You're pretty obvious, you know," Jason's sister tells him. His cheeks burn bright, but thankfully it can't be very noticeable in the darkness. "You wear your heart on your sleeve."

She sounds wistful. Jokes slide back down his throat. He forces himself meet her eyes and ask, "So you were like that?"

"Once upon a time," she answers, like she's mocking him. "Before I joined the Hunters. But I chose this for a good reason."

Leo offers a tentative grin. "If I was the guy, I wouldn't have let you go."

"I needed this," Thalia says, but she smiles back.


	49. vacation

Brought to you from Hawaii. Mahalo for reviewing. :)

_Summary:_ Who wouldn't choose to go on a vacation rather than fight a losing battle and fulfill a prophecy that says you're supposed to die? Percy/Rachel, AU from TLO where Percy actually goes with Rachel and her family to the Carribbean.

* * *

**49. vacation.**

He doesn't feel like Percy Jackson.

Cerulean waves, foaming. Cream-white sand that sticks to his feet. Rachel smiles big, says, "I'm glad you came," and reapplies suntan lotion to her nose.

He lets himself kiss her—she smells like fresh sunscreen—and doesn't let himself feel like a coward.


	50. remember

Fiftieth chapter. Midway for this collection, and I want to thank everyone so much for reading, reviewing, and etc. I hope we'll be able to reach 100 of these, eventually.

_Summary:_ He might remember Annabeth's name, but not who she is. Or anything else. [Percy/Annabeth.] A drabble and a half.

* * *

**50. remember.**

"—I kind of hated you then, nothing personal. We thought Hades had it stolen, and we were wrong…like a lot of times after that."

Annabeth laughs, and you don't. She asks, slightly impatiently, "Don't you remember, Seaweed Brain? You beat Ares. Luke tried to kill you. And the year after that, we rescued Grover. You got turned into a guinea pig and almost eaten by Polyphemus. That winter, you came all the way to San Francisco for me. You held up the sky, and we danced on Olympus—"

"'Seaweed Brain'?" you interrupt.

She blinks hard and continues, something about a Labyrinth.

"I killed Medusa once, didn't I? I remember." Actually, some faun told you that, but you don't want to be disappointing.

"Liar," Annabeth says, because you don't know her, but she knows you. "But thanks for trying."

She smiles, and you want to remember dancing with her.


	51. sign

This collection is on the backburner while I do Project PULL, but I'll try to squeeze in a regular update every week.

_Summary:_ Everyone else mostly avoids her that first summer, but he comes up to her with a Sharpie and a request. [Rachel/Will Solace.] As requested by Reading-and-Bubbling.

* * *

**51. sign.**

"Can I sign your jeans?" Will Solace asks her, with a hopeful look on his face and a felt-tip marker in his hand.

"They're not like a cast or anything," Rachel says. "But if you insist."

He grins; it vaguely reminds her of his dad. A curly signature joins the colorful drawings.

Sometimes, when she wears those jeans again, she'll catch her fingers drifting to the _Will Solace _on her thigh, to trace the four straight lines of the uppercase W written in silver Sharpie. And Rachel wonders, just a little.

She politely refuses anyone who asks her after that.


	52. fourth

Happy Independence Day to any fellow Americans. :)

_Summary:_ The Fourth-of-July fireworks have a habit of bringing people together. [Percy/Thalia.] AU in which Annabeth joined the Hunters in TTC.

* * *

**52. fourth.**

She asked him so casually, July second, and he said _sure, I guess_ without thinking.

Rumors fly, and he says "just as friends" at least fifteen times to fifteen different people the same day before realizing he doesn't exactly know if it's true. She might be his best friend, but she's older than he is and she loved Luke and who is he to compete with Luke twice, anyway?

But they share a towel under a sky artificially dazzling, she smiles a lot and steals his food, and he thinks that he wouldn't mind at all if it wasn't true.


	53. the thief

I am awful for not updating sooner and you can definitely call me out on it.

Summary: When you add a son of Hermes and a daughter of Demeter, you inevitably end up with stolen fruit. [Travis/Katie.]

* * *

**53. the thief.**

"For a son of Hermes, you're a terrible thief!"

"For a daughter of Demeter, these strawberries are pretty sour."

"They're not ripe! If you're going to steal, at least do it when they're fully grown, and don't take so many that you drop enough to lead me straight to your cabin!"

"Connor, can you believe this? She's _encouraging_ me to steal her strawberries."

"Well, _someone_ was born without an inherent ability for it."

"Ouch." Connor looks amused.

"I think this is the part where I kiss you and you very generously forgive me," Travis says hopefully.

Katie says, "Keep dreaming."


	54. ever after

For In the Closet FanFic Reader.

_Summary:_ At least gods can't die. They don't have Achilles heels. [Annabeth/Poseidon.]

* * *

**54. ever after.**

It's past curfew and the sky is as dark as his hair, but she curls her toes in the thick, wet sand and the harpies don't bother her. Them.

_Back again?_ the sea whispers, so gently. _Punctual as your mother. __But softer. _

Her hair is dirty and she doesn't answer.

She traces his name in the sand, the five letters carefully in their right places, and when he laughs it sounds like he's smiling, too.

_____And lovelier. _I'm certainly not the only one who thought so.

He wipes away his dead son's name and touches her ankles. She lets him.


	55. facts

I seem to be incapable of writing fluff recently, sorry.

_Summary:_ She knows she's a hypocrite, and hates the fact he's calling her out on it. [Thalia/Nico.]

* * *

**55. facts.**

"We're going to kick your asses at Capture-the-Flag," she says, like it's a fact.

Nico says, "'We?'"

"You know what I mean," Thalia says.

"And you know you're not one of them," he states, like it's a fact. She reaches for her circlet, but realizes she purposely left it behind.

"I'm not one of you either."

"But if you left—"

She interrupts, "You can't just _leave _the Hunt, Nico—"

"You want to, though, right?"

The hopefulness in his voice reminds her she's so much older than he is. She answers yes because she can't bear to disappoint him.


	56. ambrosia

As of today, it's been an entire year and 70K hits since this started. Which are both crazy, and I love you all for reading. Think we could get to 400?

_Summary:_ It's his first ever and last ever quest. AU. [Luke/Calypso.] For Dom.

* * *

**56. ambrosia.**

It's his first quest. He's got dreams of his dad patting him on the back and saying, _well done, Luke._

What actually happens is a dragon nearly slices open his face, and there's no apple in his hands when he blacks out.

He wakes up and thinks he's gone to Elysium. There's a pretty girl who feeds him something that tastes like not-scorched chocolate chip cookies. Or peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches. Or sugar-sweet Kool-Aid.

She says her name is Calypso and that he can stay if he wants. He lets go of his hopes (and his fate) and says he'd love to.


	57. achilles

Son of Neptune spec. Spoilers from the released excerpts.

_Summary:_ She might be a terrible girlfriend for wishing he still was cursed, but then, he doesn't even know she's his girlfriend. [Percy/Annabeth.]

* * *

**57. achilles.**

"I lost the curse of Achilles," he mentions casually.

Her right eyebrow raises. "_Lost _it?"

"I gave it up," Percy says.

"I guess this means I'm going to have to watch your back more often," Annabeth returns. His purple shirt is painful to see, and she tentatively holds out one that's orange and washed out and _familiar. _

Except not to him. He doesn't take it.

He practices sword-fighting with his new friends, and the sight of a shallow cut on his arm almost makes her nauseous. He's not as confident, but his technique is so much better.

She misses him.


	58. denial

Lineup: **Thalia/Nico** for TwinkleLights123, **Annabeth/Jason** for Allofthenamesaretaken, **Annabeth/Travis** for Reading-and-Bubbling, and **Jason/Piper** for Krazykat.

Summary: It's not just a river in Egypt. [Leo/Thalia.] For AHumanRobot.

* * *

**58. denial.**

"You're flirting with that Hephaestus boy! If Lady Artemis was here—"

"I'm not _flirting_," Thalia protests.

The girl rolls her eyes. "Right. You're just smiling at everything he says."

Her eyes flash and she straightens her crown. "Remember who you're talking to, Phoebe. If Artemis has a problem with me, she can tell me whatever it is herself."

Leo grins shamelessly wide as she returns to help finish their sculpture of Zeus' fist. "You know, I was thinking, and this looks a lot like my dad's head."

"Flattering," she says dryly.

Thunder rumbles, and they laugh instead of flinching.


	59. gowns

for TwinkleLights123.

Summary: A graduation and a wedding, two milestones. One is his and the other regrettably isn't. [Thalia/Nico.]

* * *

**59. gowns.**

1)

"Congrats," Thalia says genuinely.

Nico pulls the tasseled hat off, mutters, "Thanks."

She tosses it for him, adds, _enjoy college._

2)

"You look nice." He's trying not to forget his second-best-man's speech. "More than nice."

She laughs. "You too, Nico."

Her dress is silver. Nico thinks she'd look good in white.


	60. labor day

for Allofthenamesaretaken.

_Summary:_ Exhaustion can make a girl a lot less intimidating. [Jason/Annabeth.]

* * *

**60. labor day.**

"You're not helping him by working yourself to death."

She doesn't look up from the drafting table. "And you're not helping him by going to a _sing-a-long_ when he's—" The lead in her mechanical pencil breaks, and Annabeth's fingers shake as she opens the container of refills, spilling half of them.

"Take a break," Jason says, but he inserts another stick of lead for her.

"I _can't_, okay?" She pushes the bangs from her eyes.

He says, "I didn't sing."

Silence.

"Maybe fifteen minutes."

She sits next to him on the nearest cot. He wakes her up in thirty.


	61. sweet

for Reading-and-Bubbling. Half-drabble because I'm a combination of lazy and busy.

Summary: Maybe she'd like you if you had quirky idiosyncrasies like a fixation on blue food. Maybe not. [one-sided Travis/Annabeth.]

* * *

**61. sweet(s).**

She leans against the counter in the camp store, trying to negotiate the price of Percy Jackson's favorite candy. You help her eat all the M&Ms that aren't blue.

There's six left.

"Lucky guy," you deadpan.

Annabeth laughs and buys another package.

_He really is a lucky guy,_ you think.


	62. get well soon

for Krazykat. Do people majorly ship this pairing? Because I like Reyna more than both of them and we haven't even met her. Speaking of which, SoN is out on Tuesday!

_Summary:_ Jason's kind of terrible at this taking-care-of-a-sick-person thing, she thinks. [Jason/Piper.]

* * *

**62. get well soon.**

"How are you?" he asks.

She flushes, embarrassed. "Still alive."

"Don't feel bad," Jason says. "None of us are children of Poseidon."

(Piper glances towards the prow of the ship, where Annabeth—who isn't seasick—looks at the ocean familiarly. Almost like she wants swim the rest of the way to California.)

The sea churns. She feels dizzy, and for once it's not because of him.

He gives her a candy-pink bottle of pepto-bismol from Leo's tool belt and she closes her eyes—pretty relieved she hasn't thrown up on him yet—and wishes that he looked good in orange.


	63. muse

All I'll say about SoN is that my inner Percabeth shipper may have resurfaced, I generally like Hazel, I liked Frank until a certain incident, and RR is evil, but what else is new? Oh, and Reyna is awesome. Spoilers start with the next chapter.

_Summary:_ It's pretty ironic, when you think about it. [Thalia/Apollo, for TwinkleLights123.]

* * *

**63. muse.**

So it's kind of a holiday—Zeus is having a particularly bad week and the sky is full of murderous rainclouds. The cornmeal-yellow leaves on the trees remind you of him.

Half a mile away, too close.

_Relax, _he says, easy as a smile. He's visibly warm, it's started drizzling, and it's just logical to pull him closer and prevent any haikus from escaping his mouth.

He gives you a crown of ivy and quotes obscure poetry at you anyway, and you roll your eyes, but the rhymes still echo hours after he's gone.

The inside of your cheek bleeds.


	64. found

**SoN SPOILERS.**

_Summary:_ Reunions are sweet. [Percy/Annabeth.]

* * *

**64. found.**

"So, I know you love sleeping, but eight whole months?" Annabeth begins. He thinks there may or may not be a smile in her voice. "And now you're king of the Romans."

Percy grins. "_P__raetor_, actually."

She mutters something under her breath, in Greek.

He can't stop staring at her.


	65. trio

for _LuckyTigger_. Coming up: **Frank/Hazel** for myself, **Piper/Percy** for Reading-and-Bubbling, **Jason/Reyna** for myself, **Leo/Rachel** for Reading-and-Bubbling, **Percy/Reyna** for Bright Blue 101, **Travis/Katie** because I'll be sick of new characters, **Reyna/Leo** for andthenshesaid, **Piper/Jason** for Embrace-Your-Insanity, **Percy/Annabeth** for TwinkleLights123, and **Silena/Beckendorf** for myself.

I usually try to put requests in the order that I get them, but I'll never repeat a character in two consecutive drabbles, so that's why they're rearranged a bit. Please feel free to suggest any pairings you don't see above.

**[subtle] SoN spoilers.**

_Summary:_ Two's company, three's a crowd. Right? [Piper/Leo(/Jason).]

* * *

**65. trio.**

She drinks lemonade with seagulls skirting around her Greek sandals. He sits down opposite her, aims a halfhearted (and unsuccessful) kick at the closest bird.

"It's nice here, isn't it?" Piper asks.

"I don't know," Leo says. "I kind of miss the strawberries. And the climbing wall, and the Atlantic—"

"Okay, okay." She leans across the table, dark braids swinging. "You know what? I do, too."

It's the unspoken _but Jason doesn't _that makes them both look away. He really wants to say _but we don't need Jason._

Only they do. So he just offers her a breath mint.


	66. secret

This just reached 100,000 hits, which is ridiculous, not to mention amazing, considering we were just at 70 ten chapters ago. You guys have been crazy awesome, thanks for all the alerts and favorites and reviews.

_Summary:_ Red might be his new favorite color. [Frank/Hazel, pre-HoO.]

* * *

**66. secret.**

"Don't laugh," she warns him.

"Promise I won't," Frank says quickly.

She peeks at him out of the corner of her eye. "Okay, so I'm really craving red Kool-Aid right now."

He does laugh, and Hazel doesn't hold it against him because it makes her grin too.

So she finds Dakota's secret container under his bed and they guiltily pour a few teaspoons of washed-out-pink sugar into water bottles. Frank thinks it could possibly be the best thing he's ever tasted. But he looks at her cherry-red lips and appropriately hazel eyes and thinks he might be a little biased.


	67. charmed

Eek, this one was hard to write.

_Summary:_ It turns out that only two people think that Greece could last longer than Rome. [Piper/Percy.] for _Reading-and-Bubbling_.

* * *

**67. charmed.**

Camp Jupiter and Rome were fascinating and all, but he's glad to be home.

The strawberry fields are wilted.

"Well, we're definitely not secret children of Demeter," he says, hours later, looking at the crooked rows of fresh dirt and wishing Grover was here to play his pipes and make the seeds sprout and grow to match the emerald-green fields from his memories.

"Want me to talk to them?" Piper suggests.

She's half-joking, but they sit on the sand-strewn grass and she picks the dirt from under her fingernails and tells fairytales, more to him than the strawberry seeds.


	68. memorize

Debating another name change…

_Summary:_ He killed Krios, and she's pretty impressed. Well, maybe more than impressed. [Jason/Reyna, pre-HoO.] for _Leaf Child_.

* * *

**68. memorize.**

He limps towards her, the corners of his lips quirking.

"You're crazy," is the first thing that comes out of her mouth. "But that was amazing."

"Thanks, Rey," he says, wincing despite his grin.

She all but forces nectar down his throat, then snaps at a medic to set his broken leg, straight away. Jason presses the flask into her left hand and links his arm through hers, gold armor clinking.

"To victory," Reyna sighs, relaxing for the first time in days.

She sips the ice-cold nectar, hopes she'll never forget the sound of him saying it back so cheerfully.


	69. teatime

for _Reading-and-Bubbling._

_Summary:_ They've all been sleep-deprived zombies for the last six months, him most of all, but he kind of suspects she's just telling him what he needs to hear. [Leo/Rachel.]

* * *

**69. teatime.**

It's the night (morning, really) before takeoff, and Leo's running about the fiftieth test. Rachel Elizabeth Dare forces a familiar mug into his hand; he proceeds to scald his tongue on the boiling-hot tea.

"It'll be fine, you know," Rachel says, when he recovers, more or less. "The takeoff."

"Really?" he manages.

She winks, eyes the color of ivy. The ship creaks. "Trust me. It'll go smoothly."

Leo is tempted to ask, _smoothly? have you met me?_ but instead pours the tea overboard when she's gone.

Five hours later, he grins at her, relieved, the sunrise in their hair.


	70. for better

for _Bright Blue 101_.

_Summary:_ He's not Roman, but maybe it doesn't matter. [Percy/Reyna.]

* * *

**70. for better.**

"You've got drool on your chin," Reyna informs him.

"Not good for our public image, huh?"

Her silver dog sniffs at the hem of his toga. She smiles briefly, eyes crinkling, and he comes to the conclusion right then that this praetor thing might not be so bad after all.


	71. harvest

jsyk, I'll have an important announcement when we reach chapter seventy-five.

_Summary:_ Home sweet home, after everything. [Travis/Katie, future-fic.]

* * *

**71. harvest.**

He builds a cabin amidst all the stone buildings.

She plants a strawberry patch in their front yard, plus two rows of heirloom tomatoes, pumpkins in autumn.

They sit on smooth wooden steps. He complains sometimes about the opera music she plays for the garden; Katie laughs, turns up the volume.


	72. lost

for _andthenshesaid_.

_Summary:_ Sometimes it seems like everyone's in love with Jason, and he's in love with everyone. [Reyna/Leo.]

* * *

**72. lost (in translation.)**

She teaches him a dead language.

It's not a job she would have signed up for, to be honest. They both pretend he isn't sneaking frequent glances at the dictionary, and she only laughs occasionally at his horrific pronunciation.

Reyna sneaks a glance of her own towards the Fifth Cohort—or maybe just a certain member—joking around on the banks of the river.

Leo sighs. "So how do you say _I'm pathetic _in Latin?" he asks. "I have a feeling I'll use it a lot."

She gives him a look and tells him the Latin for _I'm awesome _instead.


	73. shades

I suppose I should start writing holiday-themed ones, shouldn't I?

_Summary: _Rome—the real one—somehow suits her. [Jason/Piper, spec.]

* * *

**73. shades.**

The Mediterranean is a glossy blue, the sky a few shades lighter.

He joins her at the starboard side of the ship.

"Homesick?"

"You know, I never thought I would even leave the country," she says, wind making her lips redder, the color of her irises settling somewhere just brighter than the sea. "But I'd much rather live here than in your New Rome," Piper continues. "No offense to Reyna or anyone." (Or maybe a little offense—she's not flawless.)

He flashes her a grin. It would be easy to get used to her eyes matching the sky, Jason thinks.


	74. holiday

Enjoy your holidays! & see you in 2012.

_Summary:_ It might be the best Christmas ever. If, you know, a certain son of Poseidon wasn't on the other coast. Mostly gen, Annabeth-centric.

* * *

_through the years we all will be together  
if the fates allow._

**74. holiday.**

She builds a gingerbread coliseum, and all it does is leave her with dissatisfaction and icing all over her fingers.

(They should be building a ship. But it's easier said than done.)

Rachel helps her string icicle lights on Poseidon's cabin. It doesn't win best-decorated, and she sighs in relief. Everyone tries to ambush Jason and Piper with mistletoe. Apollo's kids try not to sing any carols when she's in the vicinity.

She goes ice-skating with Nico and buys him a new dog collar for Christmas. Leo grows on her, with his optimistic but constant lack-of-progress updates.

When she calls Sally to wish her _happy holidays_, her voice only cracks twice.

Her half-siblings give her a super-size package of tissue boxes. Annabeth prepares to laugh but ends up opening the first box.

There's only an empty glass and crumbs left on the plate in Cabin Three; she hugs Thalia hard.


	75. old times

IMPORTANT: with only 25 left, I would have finished this collection in 2012. However…it would be before Mark of Athena comes out, and obviously before the other two. But I want to see where the series and characters go, and write about them along the way, so I'm extending this to 150 chapters. Possibly 200, we'll see…

* * *

_Should auld acquaintance be forgot,_  
_and never brought to mind?_  
_Should auld acquaintance be forgot,_  
_and auld lang syne?_

**75. old times.**

She sits down close to you and shoves those ugly plastic glasses onto your face.

"Got any resolutions, Jason?"

_Not get killed. Help build a flying ship. _And the most important of them all, maybe: _remember._

"Haven't really thought about it," you say. She gives you a look that says she doesn't believe you.

Three minutes, the TV announces.

You think about kissing her at midnight, but Leo ends up joining you with another bottle of sparkling apple cider (and you might be slightly relieved). She brushes confetti from your hair and grins; the world is tinted through your sunglasses.


	76. impressions

I meant to do this as a oneshot, but that would require me remembering how to write. Sorry for the long wait, it almost literally hurt when I tried to think of Hazel/Leo ideas. If someone could give me a prompt for them, that would be wonderful.

_Summary:_ First impressions are rarely wrong. Rarely doesn't equal always. [Rachel/Octavian.]

* * *

**76. impressions.**

"Oracles are unreliable," he sneers.

"And dissecting stuffed animals isn't," Rachel scoffs back. She can't take anyone wearing a toga seriously.

He looks startled for a second, like no one has ever dared to tell him he's wrong. The Romans and half the Greeks are afraid of him, and the other half whisper, _Luke. _

She buys him a golden-brown build-a-bear as a _so I guess we're stuck here together_ present, and he's so surprised that someone gave him an actual gift that he doesn't cut it open and pretend he can see the future in the lining of its stomach.


	77. relax

I can't do anything lately. [insert excuses]

_Summary:_ Fifteen minutes in, he gives up _trying_ to understand her, but not _wanting_ to. [Leo/Annabeth.]

* * *

**77. relax.**

It's mid-March, and the ship is barely half-finished, but Chiron forces her to take a day off. So she drags Leo downtown, to tour the Empire State Building and ramble a little about the past or the seven wonders of the modern world.

About four hundred floors higher, they arrive at Olympus and Annabeth keeps working, muttering about pillars and temples and arches instead of bronze dragons.

Leo gives his opinions just to let her eloquently explain to him why he's wrong.

He ends up bringing her gyros for lunch, and they sit under a (obnoxiously-large) statue of Percy Jackson.


	78. seriously

New title. You might have also noticed the addition to the summary. It's been almost two months since I last updated, and this update will be the last until June, the product of priorities and lack of inspiration.

* * *

**78. seriously.**

She gives him a huge box of his favorite caramel-filled chocolates (courtesy of her dad), which might not have been the best gift idea for a summer birthday.

"Thanks," he begins. Silena frowns, tucking a dark curl behind her ear, and asks, "What's wrong?"

"It's not the candy. I'm sure it's great," he says. "I just feel like _I'm_ the one who should be buying _you_ chocolate."

"Well, there's always Valentine's Day," she laughs, perfectly casual.

He manages a conceding grin and kisses her thank you, a little disbelieving of and dazed by her words and sunny smile.

It's July.


	79. games

Back from hiatus. If there's anything you want to see, let me know!

_Summary:_ If you counted the Rome-to-Greece trip slash disaster, this would count as their second date. Leo/Hazel.

* * *

**79. games.**

Leo takes her to one of those old-fashioned arcades with all the now-classic games, games that were not invented until decades after she died. By now, it's easy to not remember Sammy when Hazel looks at him—he's part of her past. Leo is here, eyes lit up and eager, part of the future in more ways than one.

She gets the third highest score on the pinball machine. Leo grins down at her in the flashing neon lights and offers, "Bet I can beat you at Space Invaders."

"We'll see," she laughs, hopes it's less daunting than it sounds.


	80. yours

_Summary: _Togas would look ridiculous in orange, she tells him. [Percy/Reyna.]

* * *

**80. yours.**

She breathes in the smell of strawberries, considers the eclectic collection of cabins, and refuses to join in the sing-along despite Percy's constant elbowing. (She hopes the spanakopita she just tried isn't stuck in her teeth.)

"So, what do you think?"

"It's chaotic," Reyna tells him, but it's sort of a compliment.

She makes a mental note to add fireworks and rock walls with real lava to her list of future camp projects.

He surprises her with a shirt the color of sunset, and she doesn't protest too vehemently when he makes her promise to wear it once a month.


	81. speak

_Summary: _Everything Aphrodite gave her is turning out to be both a gift and a curse. [Jason/Piper.]

* * *

**81. speak.**

She notices it two months after the quest, snow slowly melting off the withered strawberry field, the frame of Leo's ship taking form at about the same pace.

"Want to scrape the ice off the Aphrodite cabin windows?" Piper's only joking, because she'll get around to doing it herself eventually, but when she returns, the glass is completely free of frost.

Jason grins at her, seeming not to notice anything wrong.

She gives him her hot chocolate and furtively drops the handful of snow she had been planning to ambush him with, vows to be more careful when she talks.


	82. mortality

_Summary:_ He can't stop laughing when she tells him she once crashed Apollo's sun van into the lake. [Thalia/Leo.]

* * *

**82. mortality.**

She leaves the Hunters at age twenty-two, posing it as a statement and not a question.

Leo doesn't blink when she shows up on his doorstep. Thalia likes the way he acts like she's older and wiser than he is.

She grows her hair out and grows up. He teaches her how to drive, spouting jokes about buses and suns.

Ever regret leaving? Leo asks eventually.

Of course, she says. He just nods, without looking too disappointed, and she cancels her plan to steal his car and instead invites him along, hanging a pine-scented air freshener on the rearview mirror.


	83. curious

Lineup: Jason/Reyna, Percy/Annabeth, Thalia/Nico, Rachel/Leo.

_Summary:_ Sometimes he wonders, idly, and always she pretends not to notice. [Rachel/Apollo.]

* * *

**83. curious.**

"Feeling okay?" she asks. "Because it's hot. Like, I'd-like-to-fry-Rachel-on-the-sidewalk hot. Don't tell me Ares insulted your poetry again."

Rachel grins, showing a row of relatively straight teeth that are somewhere between yellowed and bleached perfect. You know her mouth wouldn't taste like coffee or liquor or lipstick the same shade as the cherry tomatoes packed in her eco-friendly lunchbox.

"Are you implying my poetry is actually worthy of ridicule?"

She just rolls her eyes. This is your pattern, like sunrises. It's reliable, automatic, constant, thanks to you.

But you still secretly imagine she'd taste like sweet tomatoes. And innocence, definitely.


	84. campaign

It's been two years! Time flies.

_Summary:_ A month ago, he'd asked, _will you run for praetor with me?_ and she had said, _I could ask you the same question._

* * *

**84. campaign.**

She lays out ten blank poster boards on the banks of the Tiber. "So, purple background, with gold letters?"

Jason grins at her, picking up a can of spray paint. "You probably imagined what these signs were going to look like the day you got here."

"But I didn't think your name would be on them," Reyna says.

"You don't need me," he says. "You'd win anyway."

"Maybe."

They dip their feet in the river afterwards, letting the paint dry, and she can't stop her brain from thinking all of the clouds in the sky are shaped suspiciously like hearts.


	85. paradise

**MARK OF ATHENA SPOILERS.**

(Ugh, how wonderful/terrible was that ending?)

_Summary:_ They close the doors, together. Percy/Annabeth, spec.

* * *

**85. paradise.**

The Doors grind shut with a terrible finality, and she can't imagine how awful it would be if Percy was still on the other side, in the dark, surrounded by dozens of dusty monsters he sent there.

But he's here, they're all here; the Grecian sky is azure and endless, and it makes her dizzy.

Annabeth lies next to him on the beach, more exhausted than she's ever been in her life, wonders if his eyes were always that green.

"We're alive," he tells her, almost like he can't believe it, voice wet with nectar.

She laughs, her eyes stinging.


End file.
